Chapter 26 : The Big Moving Operation

“Hikari-chan! I’m looking forward to Ichika’s housewarming party today!”

“Yeah, Ichika and Kyoko will be happy you’re coming, Hana-chan.”

“What? Those leeches actually got their own place?”

The Master, who had been wiping shelves behind me, seemed very surprised to hear this news.

He had been clicking his tongue at the sight of Ichika and Kyoko hanging around the cafe all through July’s off-season, but it seemed he had been calling them leeches in his mind.

“They’re in the room next to mine in my apartment.”

“Oh, you mean that dreadfully bleak apartment.”

The Master, with his surprisingly refined tastes, seemed unable to understand our apartment’s utilitarian aesthetics and philosophy.

“The location is great, right in Shibuya.”

“Bah, what’s so good about that neighborhood crawling with Yankees and loose women.”

“In other neighborhoods, people stare because I look foreign, but in Shibuya, where many real foreigners live, they don’t stare as much.”

“You should have looks that draw some attention, you know.”

“That’s right, Hikari-chan looks like a princess from a movie!”

I was reminded of the posts from that community site Ichika had shown me before.

They didn’t seem to know my appearance due to the perception-blocking mask I had made with my unique weapon, but they mainly mentioned clearly noticeable physical features (breasts, silver hair).

‘I guess I didn’t pay attention because there are many real foreigners who look similar.’

While thinking this, I gently patted Hana’s head, and Hana, seeming pleased, jumped right into my arms.

“What are you doing in the middle of work?”

“Exchanging friendship between friends.”

“I’m asking why you’re doing that during set work hours.”

“Blehhh~ Mean old man!”

Hana poked her head out from my arms and stuck out her tongue.

“Hana-chan, you should say ‘mean mister’ instead of ‘mean old man’ to make him happy.”

“But if he’s an old man, isn’t it weird not to call him an old man?”

“Being called an old man makes him feel isolated and lonely, but being called mister makes him feel like he’s still part of society, so he feels reassured.”

“I see! Hikari-chan is so kind! Blehhh~ mean mister!”

After answering brightly, Hana raised her head again and stuck out her tongue. Seeing this, the Master shook his head as if dumbfounded and left.

“Did he get upset?”

“Cigarette.”

“I hate the nasty smell of cigarettes, whether it’s Dad or the mean mister!”

Hearing those words made me feel a bit stung.

I was actually a smoker in my past life, and I wondered how Hana would have seen me if I had smoked here too.

At least she probably wouldn’t have acted as cute as a niece like this.

“That’s right, cigarette smoke is nasty.”

“Right? Hikari-chan and I really get along~”

My mother used to tell me to cut down on smoking too.

“Hehe Hikari-chan! Let’s go buy some yummy cake later!”

“…Okay, let’s do that Hana-chan.”

Hana smiled and spoke to me as I momentarily froze up.

If it weren’t for this little one, I might have already been taking pills for depression in my room.

Now, let’s go buy cake with Hana. I’m looking forward to the taste of the delivery sushi Ichika boasted about.

* * *

“Ichika-chan~ It’s been a while~”

“Leader, good to see you!”

“Momoe! Yuzuki! Welcome, everyone!”

Ichika, who had been setting plates with me in the room, rushed out barefoot down the stairs as soon as she heard the girls arriving and hugged all four of them.

“Have you been well?”

“Yeah, the boss is such a nice person, and we even went to a summer festival with 5 of us, including us!”

“Saitama was seriously hot~”

I followed Ichika out, but not wanting to interfere, I leaned against the railing and watched.

“We caught a turtle in the river and raised it in our dorm! Want to see a picture?”

“Heh~ A turtle? It’s not as big as I thought.”

“Oh, speaking of which, who fed Aka-kun?”

“Didn’t A-chan feed him?”

“Wasn’t it Momo-chan’s turn?”

Two girls who let out a gasp suddenly rushed off, saying they needed to call their boss urgently.

“What, you guys are still forgetful even there!”

“Ahahahaha! That’s right, Momo-chan and A-chan always forgot to pick up the bread!”

The chattering girls finally noticed Ichika was barefoot and laughed at that too.

Ichika gave an embarrassed laugh and went to wash her feet at the faucet while Kyoko brought her slippers.

“Shirogane-san! Hello!”

“Hi.”

“Wow, it’s so nice to see Shirogane-san’s room after so long!”

“Should we all sleep together like back then with 13 of us?”

“Ahaha! We can’t do that anymore!”

“Who’s that behind you?”

The girls noticed Hana hiding behind me and asked.

Hana was shyly peeking out at the girls.

Hana was usually shy except when advising someone.

‘I guess Ichika and Kyoko became familiar because they were at the cafe during business hours all July.’

I gently held Hana’s shoulders.

As warmth touched her shoulders, Hana’s shoulders had risen with tension gradually lowered.

“This is my friend Sato Hana-chan. I met her at my workplace, and she came to visit.”

“Oh, hello, Sato-chan~”

“Sato-chan, are you perhaps…?”

“That’s right, she’s a magical girl.”

“Wow! Everyone here is a magical girl!”

Hana seemed to have gotten a bit more comfortable and hesitantly bowed her head to greet them.

“N-Nice to meet you. I’m Sato Hana.”

“Kyaa! So cute!”

“How old are you, Sato-chan?”

“What grade are you in?”

Hana, who had been taking a break from school, seemed to freeze up at that question.

I hugged the flustered Hana and said:

“Hana-chan is ‘like us,’ taking a break from school for circumstances.”

“Ah…”

“I see…”

The atmosphere became subdued for a moment, making Hana feel even more apologetic as she clutched my clothes, not knowing what to do.

“Hana-chan.”

“Yes, Hikari-chan.”

“Those girls are friends I met after you.”

“Okay.”

“They’re acting like that because they want to befriend you.”

“Okay.”

“We’re friends, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then there are only friends here, right?”

“Yes.”

Hana finally relaxed and looked at the girls properly.

The girls smiled kindly, feeling a sense of kinship as fellow magical girls.

Hana smiled brightly back at their smiles.

“Hehe.”

“Sato-chan! We brought felt dolls from the factory, want to take a look?”

“We were wondering what to do since Ichika-chan doesn’t really like these things, but it’s great that Sato-chan is here!”

“Dolls… dolls! I want to see!”

I told Hana, who was laughing with the two girls carrying large bags, to go to my room and play slowly.

“Ugh, Leader really does favor Sato the most.”

“Shut up.”

I answered casually to Kyoko’s words as she suddenly approached. She finished setting the plates with Ichika, who had finished washing up.

The delivery arrived around the time I was taking drinks out of the fridge and pouring them into paper cups.

“Oh, this is more amazing than I expected.”

“Heh, I worked 3 part-time shifts for a while because of this.”

It was quite an impressive delivery sushi.

The colorful ingredients created an appetizing appearance, and the glossy sheen emanating from the thickly sliced sashimi was unlike that of evening discount sushi sold at department stores or supermarkets.

“Thank you, Ichika-chan~”

“I’ll eat well, boss!”

“Congratulations on moving, boss!”

“Congratulations on moving, Kyoko-chan too!”

We started eating the sushi frantically, starting with giving a word of congratulations each time we received a drink cup or chopsticks.

“Uuu Hikari-chan, I can’t eat wasabi.”

“Okay Hana-chan, I set yours aside separately here.”

“Thank you Hikari-chan!”

I removed the wasabi from one of each type of sushi and organized them for Hana, who can’t handle wasabi well. I then fed a piece of sushi to Hana, who opened her mouth wide.

“Mm! Delicious!”

“I’m glad, Hana-chan.”

Seeing that, Kyoko whispered to the girls:

“No matter how you look at it, that’s not friends but parent and child.”

“I can hear you, you know.”

Zap

I appeared behind Kyoko with Blink, lifted up her t-shirt, gave her back a slap, and returned to Hana’s side.

“Eep?!”

“Ahahahaha!”

“Pfft, does Kyoko-chan always get hit like this?”

“She can’t lift a finger against Shirogane-san! Hahaha!”

The laughter deepened, and after we finished eating all the sushi, we shared cake and talked as the night grew late. The girls all said they would sleep over in Ichika’s room.

“Mom! It’s super fun here!”

[I’m glad~ Hana-chan, don’t forget to brush your teeth before bed, okay?]

“Sato-san, I’ll go to the cafe together with Hana-chan tomorrow morning.”

[Hoho, thank you, Shirogane-san!]

The day wrapped up with a video call from Mrs. Sato, who seemed to have enjoyed some good couple time while Hana was out visiting, as her voice had a hint of alcohol.

“Hikari-chan.”

“Yes?”

While the girls’ chatter could be heard from next door, Hana, who had changed into pajamas in my room, quietly called me.

“This is my first time sleeping over at a friend’s house.”

“Really? I wish it could have been a nicer place.”

I feel a bit sorry as an adult that this bleak studio apartment will be the memory of her first pajama party. But Hana shook her head.

“No. I like it because it’s Hikari-chan’s house.”

“I see. I’m glad.”

“Yes, I’m glad.”

We gradually drifted off to sleep, using the laughter from next door as our lullaby.

* * *

[The Magical Girl Alliance functions as a central organization commanding existing small-scale officially recognized magical girl groups…]

[It essentially functions as a second government, separately handling legislation, administration, and judiciary for magical girls…]

[Representatives of each company and institution exercise equal rights as magical girls…]

[The interim representative of the Alliance is Fujimoto Sumire, who is the representative of National Magical Girls and the representative of the Fujimoto Group.]

“We pledge to exercise great responsibility in using supernatural abilities.”

“We will faithfully fulfill our duties as protectors of the nation, society, and, more broadly, the Japanese people.”

“And we wish to appoint the magical girl of [Beginning], who opened the era of magical girls and personally carried out public duties as a supernatural ability user…”

“…As the chairperson of the Magical Girl Alliance council.”